I opened my eyes and tried to see through the pool water, coming up to the surface then receiving a wave of rough water coming at my face. I wiped my eyes and looked straight at my best friend, Mirra who had a guilty look on her face. ' I got you that time, Selene!' I ducked down underneath her and grabbed her ankles underwater and Mirra screamed. She kicked and started to swim away, laughing. Mirra's pool was like our summer home, we were always there throughout summer break. If we weren't in her pool, we were shopping or going to the beach. I studied Mirra's smiling face. She had a pretty, petite face, long brown hair, with delicate features and beautiful green eyes with brown specks in them. She was a model for both big and small name brands for clothing companies, and an actress. She was sometimes popular, but had never had a real boyfriend. She had one 'boyfriend' in 3rd grade, but, that doesn't count. I imagined my own face, regular-looking with freckles, below shoulder-length dark brown, curly hair and chocolate colored eyes. We looked so different from each other, but we were still friends.


We crawled out of the pool once we started to feel like sponges, and went inside for snacks.

While we sat by the pool, sharing a bag of potato chips, we discussed how we thought school would be when we got back from summer vacation. We were just entering high school, and would be freshman. 'I think that it will be fun and wild and there will be tons of parties! It will be the best year of my life.' Mirra exclaimed. 'What do you think?' Selene thought for a minute, both about Mirra's excited attitude and what she thought high school would be like.
'I think that we will get loads of homework and work at school, but it will still be very fun.' Mirra and Selene shared a smile.


'I can't believe it's our first day of school!' Mirra exclaimed.
'Me neither...' Selene was nervous. At least she had Mirra by her side on this terrifying day. They arrived at school and peered at their schedules. Mirra and Selene shared only one period together, and that was PE. 'Well, at least we have one class together' Selene huffed.
'Yes, well, I'll see you then!' Mirra gathered her bag and schedule and took off toward first period science. Selene wondered constantly how Mirra could always be so optimistic. She searched around all the wandering students, looking for her english class. She pushed through the crowds, and right as the bell rang, she found her class. She walked in and sat at the desk farthest from the front of the room. Soon the class was filled with screaming teenagers, tossing footballs and gossiping. Selene stayed away from the crowd. A small girl skipped towards her.'Hi!' she half-screamed at me.
'Uh, hi?' She's even worse than Mirra! Selene thought.
'I'm Catrina, what's your name?' She bounced right into the seat next to me.
'Selene.'
'Cool name! How old are you?'
'I'm 14.'

'Cool! Me too!' She was talking so loud, Selene already had a headache. Finally, their teacher strolled into the class. He had a round, red face and a big stomach. He introduced himself and we started class.
'Open up your text books to page 34...' a blasting loud fire alarm echoed off the classroom walls. All the girls were screeching and jumping up and down, and not because they were happy. 'Everybody, stay calm... Walk out to the grass yard quietly, please.' Mr. Greene, the principle, ran into the class.
'Everybody get outside now! Hurry!' We didn't care anymore about the calm part, we rush out the school and onto the yard, where all the other classes were gathered. I looked around for Mirra, but she was nowhere in sight. She wasn't worried, though, because it was a big school and she would have always been in her class group where Selene couldn't see her. The loud speaker blared and everyone turned to the middle of the field where Mr. Greene and some other staff were standing. They heard the sound of a siren, but kept listening. He explained that there was an explosion in Ms. Reef's class due to an incorrect mixture of liquids. The fire truck and ambulance arrived, and I saw Mirra being loaded into the back. Part of me wanted to run towards her, but I knew I couldn't. I turned my head away and looked down. I asked Mr. Greene if she was going to be OK, and he said he didn't know.


My mother took me home early and I called the hospital Mirra was taken to. I asked if there was a patient under the name of Mirra Sparks. The lady replied yes, but said she was in the middle of surgery and could not talk. I asked her what the surgery was for, and she said she had major burns on her body. I said thank you and hung up. The next day, I skipped school and went to the hospital to visit her. She looked horrible, but she still wore a smile on her face when she saw me. 'Hi' she coughed in a raspy voice.
'How are you?' I asked. Her face went blank. 'Mirra! Mirra!' I screamed. I jammed my fist hard against the service button.three doctors ran in and put a mask over her mouth and rolled her out of the room. Another doctor came in and I asked what was wrong and if she was OK. He replied that she was in shock and she would most likely get better. He said afterwards that he would call if anything happened. I went home with my mom and rested in my bed. I dozed off and what seemed like hours later, I opened my eyes to see Mirra standing at the foot of my bed. 'Mirra? Is that you?' I rubbed my eyes and sat up.
'Of course its me silly! I've been watching you sleep for the last hour. What did you dream about? You screamed out my name a couple of times...'

'Wait, I was dreaming?'
'Duh!'
'What day is it?'
'I don't know! You loose track of time in the sumer, don't you.' Wow, Selene thought, it was all a dream? And it's still summer? 'I was thinking of going to the mall today, so we can get some bathing suits and school clothes! Sound good?'
'Yeah, let's go, just let me get dressed.'
'OK! I'll be right here!'
Selene got dressed and ready, and her and Mirra set of for the mall, knowing they would always be best friends.